Hi guys,

I'm quite new to coffee making - so I am not very experienced and can't figure the following out of my own.
Maybe you can help me.

I got a Lido E grinder (my first grinder) and I am not sure, if the grinder works how it should be.

Please note: I got the following issues from the very beginning (the grinder is 2 weeks old by now)


1. The zero mark is not at zero. When adjustment ring and lock ring are completely locked (so the finest grind setting available), the zero mark on the adjustment ring is 180° away from the zero mark on the grinder. I attached two pictures two show this. So actually my grinder starts at -8 (minus eight).

So in the following, when I talk about the zero point, I mean the marked zero point - means you have to add +8, if you count from the finest setting available.





2. On the adjustment of -8, I cannot move the grinder, it is totally blocked.

3. Adjusting the grinder towards more rough settings, the grinder becomes more and more moveable, but I it is dragging at some points. The first setting I have no drags at all is +4 from zero. On +3 I got I can grind about 300° smoothly and got a drag on the last 60°.

Here are two videos, zero and +3 from zero mark.

http://webmshare.com/play/r6V3x (0)

http://webmshare.com/play/R5yg7 (3 marks from zero)


Here a video that shows a comparison between my lido and a 2nd lido, same order, mine is the left one.

http://webmshare.com/play/PqxMo

While my grinder is totally stuck at -8 and drags terribly on 0, you can smoothly grind the other grinder at 0 (and there is no -8).


As I am unexperienced in mechanics, I'm wondering if I might screw the grinder, grind down the mill or whatever.
Should I return it, or no reason to worry about?


Many thanks for your advice!


P.S. This is the grist on 0 and on +4 (the first setting I got no dragging at all)

Looks to me like the grind on the right is extremely fine, maybe even too fine for espresso.

Have you completely disassembled it at any point since receiving it?

My Lido E can tighten at most to negative 2, and there is no rub at just above zero. I have put a few pounds of beans through, and having experience with grinders I know that alignment issues with new grinders often go away after running a few pounds of beans through them. How much grinding have you done in two weeks?

My guesses are either it still needs to break in more or there is something misaligned. If there was a mistake in assembly by either the factory or you, dissambling and reassembling properly should fix it. Only the most gross misalignment would warrant a return.

My suggestion would be to buy a couple pounds of cheap coffee and run them all through the grinder.

If your zero point is still -8 but the rub is significantly reduced, then you can simply reset your zero point and be on your way. Otherwise you can start disassembly / reassembly.

Forget the settings and where it meets zero.

How does the grinder grind?

I'd exchange it...contact OE and tell them the issue. Not showing up at "0" is a strike against consistency with this new production run. Shouldn't drag after you've opened it 1-2 ticks from where it's true "zero" is regardless, so that it drags and doesn't 0 correctly makes it a defect to me.

Lemons happen. The key is to not keep biting it if you don't like sour things.

My zero mark was way off on my E and my adjustment system wasn't smooth. I made my own zero, and just live with the rough adjustment rings. OE offered to fix it but I didn't want to pay for shipping back to them.

dominico wrote:Have you completely disassembled it at any point since receiving it?

My Lido E can tighten at most to negative 2, and there is no rub at just above zero. I have put a few pounds of beans through, and having experience with grinders I know that alignment issues with new grinders often go away after running a few pounds of beans through them. How much grinding have you done in two weeks?

My guesses are either it still needs to break in more or there is something misaligned. If there was a mistake in assembly by either the factory or you, dissambling and reassembling properly should fix it. Only the most gross misalignment would warrant a return.

My suggestion would be to buy a couple pounds of cheap coffee and run them all through the grinder.

If your zero point is still -8 but the rub is significantly reduced, then you can simply reset your zero point and be on your way. Otherwise you can start disassembly / reassembly.

As I said, it has been dragging since the very beginning, no disassembling by me at all.


Now I dissasembled the grinder, to follow that video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGO_Onbx0NI

I cannot manage the step on min. 6.10, actually the drag I have while aligning is exactly the same I have on fine grind settings.

http://webmshare.com/play/BBAyx




I grinded less than half a kilo, because Im scared to ruin the burr.

But there is absolutely no way that the drag will significantly reduce at -8, its so tight

Actually I wanted to demonstrate via video how tight it is, but while grinding, the hanging popped out. What to do next?!

IMO you need to send it to OE as it looks like the bushing was not quite a press fit (tolerance)...just a guess.

Looks like you broke your lido E by focusing on where ZERO is, when it actually has little meaning. If you slam the burrs together and then try to turn it, you're not doing yourself any favors. Why would you do that?!?!

Find what works for espresso, then work from there. I repeat, zero, ZERO, "zero" and whatever are meaningless. I defined zero on my lido 2 as where the handle wouldn't turn on its own weight when I tightened the burrs together (holding it sideways). You can't do that on the Lido E because the bearings are tighter (better alignment). Just find how to pull a tasty shot, mark it, and work from there, or find out where that is in relation to the marked zero point just for reference. Doug and Barb are still kicking themselves for talking about "zero" points because of instances like this one. It's just a reference.

I had some rubbing for a while and realigned the grinder after a couple of months. The bearings are tight and even without any burr rubbing, the handle doesn't spin super freely until it is well broken in. I.e., you can't hold the grinder and whip it around and have the handle spin, so it's hard to tell when there is a little burr rub and when it's just the bearings being tight.

I do not care about the zero mark at all - it was just for description.

What I do care about is, that the grinder drags on fine settings and not in a even or constant way what I would assume as normal (or even useful to determine a spot for orientation, no matter if its called zero or not), but in a snatchy way. (300° smooth, 60° drag). And as shown in the video above, this drag appears even while realigning (its exactly the same drag, I can feel that)-